Campaigners are hoping to stop Kingston Council closing its last residential care home.

Councillors voted to close Murray House, in Acre Road in the north of the borough, by November 2018 at a committee meeting on June 21, but New Malden resident James Giles is trying to get the decision reviewed.

The closure makes “economic sense”, according to officers, and is a response to the way care has changed in the borough.

But Mr Giles has set up a petition, which needs 100 signatures, to have Murray House discussed again at a forthcoming meeting, when he hopes the closure will be halted.

He said: “I’m trying to call in the decision because a promise was made that residents who were moved from Newent House when it closed a few years ago would not be moved again.”

He was referring to comments from former council leader Derek Osborne and former director of health and adult services David Smith in 2013.

Officers said at the June 21 meeting that because the committee itself had not made that decision, current councillors were free to decide “on current evidence”, disregarding past informal assurances.

And director of adult social services Stephen Taylor said that since then, “the whole ethos has changed”, putting more emphasis on residents’ independence and at-home care, which has reduced the need for residential care homes.

Officers said the current need is for more dementia care places, and pointed to the 80-bed home currently in development in Surbiton.

The council held a public consultation on the closure of Murray House, which has 38 beds but just five permanent residents, earlier this year.

Mr Giles said: “The consultation was flawed. Residents had to fight to get the full results released to councillors before last Thursday’s meeting.

“And the overwhelming majority of respondents did not agree with the closure.”

In the consultation, residents said they felt a connection with the home and the area, and their families said they were worried about the impact moving to a new home might have on their loved ones.

Anne Davison, whose mother lived in the home and whose cousin still does, said: “I think we should be proud of Murray House, and we’re going to rip the heart out of the community if it closes.

“My mum passed away in March, and she had the best care.

She was in bed for six years there, and never had a bed-sore. That proves the point.”

But Murray House is not just home to residents; the Milaap multicultural day centre, which runs events and activities for older people from many different cultural backgrounds, uses the building.

Milaap chairwoman Prabha Shetty said the sites council officers had so far suggested the centre could relocate to were “not suitable”.

She said: “It is absolutely ideal for us, the way it is.

Change is good, and I am all for changes happening, but not if it impacts our members in a big way.

“I know we may not get like for like, but there is a reason it is the way it is. We fought for years to get something that was ideal.”

A council statement emphasised the home cannot affordably be brought up to modern Care Quality Commission standards, and officers are working with residents and their families to ensure a smooth transition to private homes.

A spokeswoman said: "We will continue to treat our residents with dignity and respect.

"Existing permanent residents of Murray House will not be asked to contribute more for their new alternative accommodation than they would have contributed should they haveremained at Murray House, unless their needs or financial circumstances change."

The petition with 100 signatures must be handed in by 5pm on July 5.